Over the years I have beeninterviewed and published in most all Realtor related media, and lots that were not related. Texas Monthly Magazine named me as the Top Texas Realtor, and the Houston Chronicle, Katy Times, and the Houston Business Journal have also run articles about my team and me. There are two main reasons I think drew their attention, and it is also what makes my team and I unique.

Most of my team (75%) is family, & all three generations are native Texans.

Our level of consistent high production ,we have averaged 200 trsansactions the last ten years in a row.

My father's family settled in East Texas in the 1800's,my sister and I were raised in Port Arthur Texas and when I was 17 the whole family moved to Houston. My Mother and Daddy retired back to East Texas and my sister Sandra decided to take her two small children Denise and Nina to Kirbyville TX also, to raise them in a small town atmosphere. I stayed in Houston and gotinto Real Estate in 1976. I started building ateam, long before it was in vogue (1990-91), I never dreamed one day it would be mostly family. Over the years I've been blessed that the whole family has moved to Katy, Texas at various times and most joined my real estate team. My sister Sandra, her daughters Nina and Denise, Sandie who is Nina's daughter and the 3rd generation. My husband Bill decided to get his Real Estate license about 15 years ago. Pictured on front row to the right of me is Sandie, 2nd row L-R is Denise and Nina, back row far right is Sandra, and Bill in the middle as the only man is hard to miss. Jean, Chelsea and Monday round out the team, they are unrelated, but they are like family to us all. Following are some highlights from an interview with Texas Realtor Magazine, which of course had some questions on what it's like to work with your family?

Ward Lowe with the Texas Association of Realtors interviewed Liz Carter for an article in their magazine, which is the premiere publication for the Texas of Realtors. What inspired Ward to call for the interview was that Liz Carter & Team has threegenerations of her family working on her team and has been a practicing Realtor since 1976.

Lowe's first question was which members of the team was family? "My sister, two nieces and a great niece are on my team. They all joined the team at different times, with Sandra Parker my sister being the first member and the first generation along with myself. Then Nina Murray, my niece joined the family business about nine years ago. When Nina's daughter Sandie Acord who is my great niece in more ways than one, graduated high school in 2000, she made the decision to join the family business instead of going to college. Then Denise Acord came on board. My husband, Bill started with me about 15 years ago, after leaving an oil industry related field".

The pros and cons of working so closely with family was another question posed to Carter. "There are three big advantages", Carter said. "The biggest one is that you are working with people you total trust. Second, there is continuity to your business, I can pass it along to the next generations for them to grow and expand the business. Third is that is gives me anopportunity to work at a level that I choose to after a work career of 47 years. The biggest drawback is that we end up talking about business too much outside the office Instead of just being together as a family. We have a rule not talk about work related things outside the office; however that rule is broken often."

In addition to training and coaching her family, Liz has been a mentor to many outside agents and was ask what she tells new agents or people thinking about becoming a Realtor "I caution everyone to be patient; it takes a long time to succeed in this highly completive field". Lowe ask Carter if she had ever suggested that someone look for another line of work. Carter said. "Absolutely, if you don't have a very strong drive and passion plus the time and money necessary to sustain yourself for a minimum of 6 months to a year, look elsewhere. People think real estate is easy, that they can work two or three days a week and make a fortune, the fact is the average agent in Texas only sells 2-3 homes a year. Some people think you can do this part time, which is not possible and do a good job. You end up doing a disservice to yourself, your family, your clients and to the industry.

Ask what advice she had for a broker or agent who's mentoring someone for the first time, "You must find out what the new agent's goals are because we're all motivated by different things. Money, toys, recognition, etc., find out their WHY. By identifying their motivation, you can help them achieve their goals, Liz said." You can reach Liz Carter at 281-391-SOLD(7653) or visit her web site, http://www.lizcarter.com/. One of the things that makes this top producing agent so special is the time she is willing to give up her time to help new agents in their careers.

When I first starring bloging on Active Rain a year ago it was mostly to get my listings/sellers moreexposure, and help my web placement on the Internet. I did not do much on Active Rain for several months, and when I did, I discovered a whole a new world, of people I could learn from, and people I could help and teach what I knew about real estate. Active Rain is a greatcommunity of triple A type Realtors and others. It's rare to have a group of 70,000 + personalities like this in one place sharing ideals, and for the most part "playing nice"Active Rain is a lot more to me now, it's a place to express myself with the freedom to be creative also I made so many friends here on line. The rain is a place to share, learn, teach, express and get business too. There are referrals from other people on AR, my web site ratings have sky rocketed, and I enjoy bloging/writing too...what more could you ask for? Thanks to all the people whocreated this great place called active rain, and to all the great people who are on it.

Liz - awww.... YOU are the sweetest! Thank you for the beautiful flowers. I even printed out the pic & cutout & taped to my computer. It's funny you suggested walking. It was beautiful here last weekend, and I tried to take myself for a walk (unsuccessfully). I used to go every morning with my dog, who disappeared last Thanksgiving, and I just can not seem to go without her. But I'm going to take the strengthening of your kindness with me in the morning, and give it a real try. Deep peace of the starry night to you...

Great piece, Liz! You have yourself one formidable team. I work with my father, and fully understand the benefits and challenges that mixing family with business entails. In our case, it has brought us much closer. If anything, we have to guard against discussing business at family events because we tend to ostracize ourselves with the shop talk. My wife and my mother will roll their eyes and jab us in the ribs to remind us to stow it.

Hi Mara,that is so sad, I know what you are going through. I lost my last dog a white poodle at 13, and my red poodle now, Mr. Rhett Butler is 12, but very healthy. I went 4 years without a dog. My adivce is get another one right away. Meet Rhett

Congratulations Liz, Great article and great post. That's a tricky thing working with family at least sometimes. So very nice it has worked for you. So anxious to talk to you about this team thing when I see you in person. Soon I hope! Ricki:)

Hi Ricki, I am still trying to make up my mind about the get together. I really want to come, but that is the same time as my Mike Ferry top producer thing in Scottsdale AZ, so I'm up in the air right now. Will let you know soon, and thanks for the nice comments. Liz

i never would've thought that working with family could have big advantages. i thought it blurred the lines between business and family, but i guess that was only for people who didn't know how to do it. you're obviously NOT one of them, congratulations!!!

Liz....you're an inspiration to many, including me. My sister and I have worked on another team together for 2 years and just this year we started off on our own. We've often wondered how being family may or may not complicate things, but we couldn't be in a better place! Congrats on a great career!

Hi Kim, thank you. I'm glad to hear you and your sister are doing well working together, it is a fine line sometimes, but the good so far outweighs the bad. Being able to totally trust in another person and have someone to share your successes, and your challenges with is a wonderful part of being a "team". Liz

What a wonderful blog! I truly loved reading this and hope that one day my family will round out my team!! Congratulations to all of your success! It sounds like you truly deserve every bit of it and more!

I have to say that I have worked with family off and on for many years. I loved the fact that everyone was real, Office politics can so many times turn things upside down, and I so do not have the patience for that anymore, I am glad to see that you still get a chance to be with more of your exteded family as well. Thanks for reminding me of some of the good memories, Congrats on the article and Best of luck

Christy...
It has been a real blessing to me, complete trust and loyalty. We don't have time for family things at work, it's a busy office. The biggest negative is we talk about work too much when we are doing family things, so it has affected that part of our relationship. I was never able to have children of my own, and I only have one sister. Our entire family with the 2 babies and 2 kids only total 16, so without the 4 kids we have 12, and out of the 12, 6 work on my team. We all live very close to each other too.
It can be really really bad, or really really good, Thank God, mine is the later. L

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